Why British?
by hazelfeather17777
Summary: Edwin Jarvis was a great supporting figure in Tony Stark's life. That's why Tony named his artificial intelligence program JARVIS, after all. But there may be another influence to JARVIS's creation: Aunt Peggy Carter.


**As much as I would love to, I don't own any characters in this oneshot. Peggy Carter is one of my favorite characters in the Marvel universe, and I hope this does her justice. That being said, I hope you enjoy this! Until next time, Hazel.**

Why British?

It was a question often asked by his guests. Why did he make his artificial intelligence program British?

He always gave them a smile and said, "He's modeled off my old friend Edwin Jarvis." Most people would nod, or say something sappy like "Oh, now nice." Closer friends would know of the famous Edwin Jarvis, the man who proudly served the Stark family and was as close a father figure to Tony as Howard Stark or even Obadiah Stane was, if not closer.

However, only a select group of people know of the Edwin Jarvis. A member of the British Armed Service, met both his wife Ana and also his future boss, Howard, in Budapest during WWII. After forging his general's signature to allow his then fiance safe transit from Nazis, he was dishonorably discharged and became Howard's butler. He aided Peggy Carter in their mission to clear Howard's name, and helped bring down the soviet organization Leviathan.

After the business with Leviathan, he settled down. He and Ana have never had children, but he took in young 'Master Anthony' as his own. He would protect little Tony from Howard's increasingly drunken outbursts, console him after his parents died, and became the strong supporting figure in the great Tony Stark's life.

Not many people know this; not even the Avengers. Tony felt like it was something private, some little piece of himself he was still unwilling to give away.

However.

There was one such person who was there all the way. One other person who stood by him like a proud mother figure, who gave him tall tales of the adventures of the great Captain America, who would help him pursue his interests in creating new tech.

Agent Margaret 'Peggy' Carter.

While Jarvis consoled with young Tony, Peggy and Tony's mother Maria would help console Howard. She was the one who suggested he make up for his mistakes by helping his son's future. With her sharp remarks and general level of sarcasm that could talk down even the best of spies, Peggy read bedtime stories, sang weird little tunes that made Tony giggle, smiled whenever he showed her the complex conceptual drawings for an artificial intelligence program.

Tony himself had thought he had modeled JARVIS to be like Edwin Jarvis. It was all in the design, the name, the command procedures, the "sir" that Tony would be addressed as. That was until one day, a middle aged woman tagged along with Peggy's weekly trip to the Stark family mansion in New York. Peggy was dressed in her sharp SHIELD uniform, her brown hair tied in an efficient bun. Her companion was less formally dressed. Her wavy dark blond hair had small streaks of grey, and it cascaded down her shoulders. She was dressed in a floral patterned skirt and two inch heels.

Edwin let them in, per usual, and greeted both women with a smile and a cup of tea. The grownups chatted in a comfortable atmosphere, with the new lady interjecting comments here and there. Her American accent was a sharp contrast with the soft British ones of her companions, though Edwin's accent was less obvious after spending many years with Ana and Howard in New York.

Even though he was slightly curious, Tony couldn't put down his algorithms. Not yet! He was almost done with the 'how to make coffee' part of the code! (Both Howard and Edwin claim that coffee can stunt growth; he can drink it when he's older).

"Who's the lucky man?" Edwin asked as he stirred sugar into his tea.

"I'm afraid that is a surprise, Mr. Jarvis. My fiance has asked me to keep his name a secret until the wedding, which of course you and Howard are invited to. I'll give you a hint, though. He was one of the men... Steve saved from the Hydra facility."

"Oh, English, he's wonderful. And thanks for making me your maid of honor. I absolutely can't wait for the wedding!" Angie Martinelli pipped up enthusiastically. "He asked me to come and keep an eye on Stark for him while Peggy's here."

Edwin smiled at the remark and looked at his watch. "The linens will be done in two minutes; I will return shortly. Be welcome to walk around. Howard would certainly be glad to see the both of you. And Peggy, I do believe Tony has something he's been quite anxious to show you."

"Doesn't he always."

"Tony? Is that Howard's son Anthony?" Angie asked as the two women walked down the hall to Tony's 'lab'.

"Yes. He found 'Anthony' to be a mouthful. We don't call him that unless he's in trouble." Peggy knocked lightly on Tony's door, which was covered in signs such as 'Caution: science at work'. "He does like to be referred to as 'Master Tony' occasionally."

Angie shook her head. "He must've grown so much since I've last seen him…"

Peggy grinned, "Makes me feel old."

"Oh, please, English, you haven't aged a day." Angie jumped slightly as a small explosion sounded the alarm from downstairs. "Is that… normal?"

Peggy rolled her eyes, "Knowing Stark, he probably 'upgraded' his washing machine."

Sure enough, Edwin hurried towards them, relieved to find both women unharmed outside Tony's bedroom. "Nothing to worry about, ladies." He coughed slightly. The smell of smoke followed him around. "Just I may have to rewash the linens."

"What did he do this time?" Peggy asked.

Edwin paused, thinking. "I… I am actually not quite sure. The washing machine seemed fine until the… er… the spin cycle seemed to have developed rocket boosts."

"That doesn't seem like something Howard would do… I thought he swore never to make another weapon after the incident?"

"That he did." Edwin confirmed. "Unless…"

"ANTHONY EDWARD STARK!" a voice called from downstairs. Howard appeared, dressed in smoking red robes and bunny slippers.

"Hello, Howard. You're looking… fine." Angie finished off awkwardly.

"And you look absolutely stunning today, Ms. Martinelli." Howard gave her a wink as he kissed the top of her hand, and then Peggy's. "And just in case any of you were wondering, I haven't touched a bottle since last week."

Peggy raised an eyebrow. "It's Mrs. Martinelli now, Howard. It's so great to see you again. I would've dropped by last week but there was a… slight complication at SHIELD I had to take care of."

Howard nodded in understanding. "Speaking of complications… ANTHONY! Open this door now!"

"I'm busy, dad!" Came the muffled reply.

"Anthony…" Howard tried his most threatening voice. "What did you do to my laundry machine?"

"Sorry, dad, the door's too thick, I can't hear you."

Howard threw his hands up in annoyance. "The nerve of that kid! Seriously, Peggs, how in the world did you manage?"

"I've had much practice." Peggy looked pointedly at him. "You can leave this to me. Tony?" She called through the door in her nicest 'Aunt Peggy' voice while shooing Howard away.

A pause.

"Hiyah, Aunt Agent." Tony replied. He looked through the peephole in the door. There was no one but Peggy and the new lady, Mrs. Martinelli.

"I'd like you to meet someone, Tony. Let us in, would you? I heard you had something to show me?"

Tony cautiously eased open the door.

"This is Angie, an old friend of mine, and of your father's." Peggy introduced the two.

Angie was bubbling with excitement, and she all but scooped the rather small boy up in a bearhug. "It's been so long! I mean, last time I saw you, you were but this" She gestured with her hand, allowing Tony to back away out of reach "tall! You're right, English. He does make me feel old."

Tony wheezed a little to get his breath back and formally shook hands with her. "Nice to meet you."

"Oh, well isn't he such a charmer. I expected no less from Howard's son. By the way, how on Earth did you manage to add rockets on the laundry machine? Gave us all quite a scare, of course, but it seems like you have quite a knack for machines."

Peggy gave her friend a sidelong glance as Tony lead them into his 'lab', navigating through a maze of computer parts, wires, and sheets of paper covered in his messy scribbles. He launched into the technical aspects of rocket boosters and why a flying laundry machine would save Ed a lot of work if it could follow him around.

"You seem pretty smart for a fourth grader, Tony." Angie grinned at Peggy after they got verbal proof it was indeed Tony who installed the rockets.

Tony looked slightly offended. "I'm taking an advanced course, so I got to do high school physics this year. Last year I took chemistry. I nearly blew the house up!" He grinned at Peggy. "But I didn't, and that's what's important, right?"

"Yes, but it doesn't mean you should do it again." She gently admonished.

"Yes, Aunt Peggy." Tony adopted his most innocent voice. Not that he had been planning to redo his experiment. In his defense, he thinks he has figured out why it went wrong…

Peggy smiled and ruffled his hair, to his mild annoyance. "We'll make an agent out of you yet, Mr. Stark."

Nine year old Tony beamed. "By the way, why do you call Aunt Agent 'English'?"

Edwin Jarvis played a huge role in Tony's life, no question about that. But Agent Margaret Peggy Carter, 'Aunt Agent', 'Peggy', 'English' was as much a mother figure as Maria Stark was. She left shortly after Howard was murdered in the car accident, trying to figure out who had killed her long time friend. Years passed and Peggy's visits grew less and less, especially after he got his millionaire status and her health failed to Alzheimer's after she retired from SHIELD.

But Tony always retained some memories of his childhood with Aunt Agent. Her personality, her sarcasm, her British accent was also preserved in Tony's best friend to date, JARVIS.

 **Please be advised this story was the result of over procrastination. I was absolutely not supposed to be working on these essays for Governor's School. Or working on other homework. Or working on my other fanfic. But then again, the idea of Aunt Peggy has always been in the back of my mind after watching Agent Carter.**

 **For further clarification, in this fic Peggy is getting married to someone (this is canon but I don't know the name and I don't want to make something up since SEASON TWO OF AGENT CARTER is scheduled! Angie is already married, and she's still Peggy's best friend (no, I don't ship the two, sorry).**

 **I'm open for any suggestions for future chapters, so please review! (as of right now it's just a one-shot)**


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